Collapsible barrel



P. SCHEPP AND J. FLACK.

COLLAPSIBLE BARREL.

APPLICATION FILI-:D mm2, 192,1.

1,407 ,487;l Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

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Specification of Letters atent. H Patri/mtg@ Feb. 2, 192g Applicationfiled January 12, 1921. Serial No. 436,661.

To all whom t may 00a-cera Be it known that we, Parra Sonnrr and JOHNFLACK, citizens of the United States of America, and residents of LaSalle, county of La Salle, and State of Illinois, have invented certainnew and useful lmprovements in Collapsible Barrels, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to containers such as kegs and barrels, which arefoldable to suitable proportions for convenient shipment in lots. Thepurpose of this invention is to provide a container of such characterand one of proper rigidity and strength.

The object of the invention is accomplished by the device shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 shows the container 1nperspective as it would appear when folded or collapsed to minimumdimensions.

Fig. 2 is an end view showing the device extended as it would appearwhen iilled and ready for shipment.

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective illustrating the attachment of the headsor ends of the container to the body portion.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

With the end in view of providing a cylindrical container of the natureof and equal in strength to a barrel or keg of standard construction andwhich is foldable to compact condition, the design includes barrelstaves or slats which are secured together by iiexible metallic bands orlinks, and heads which are hinged to the body portion and which are ofcam or cleat form for expanding the body portion and closing its ends.

The body consists of staves 1 and 2, the staves 1 being riveted tometallic bands 3 which are hinged to small metallic members 4c securedto the staves 2. The bands 3 are flexible to permit the barrel, toassume a cylindrical form when the heads 5 thereof are swung outwardlyfrom the interior of the container to right angles with its axis. Eachhead 5 consists of two parts 6 and 7 which are centrally securedtogether by the pivot rivet 8. Each head is hinged to the body of thecontainer by a hinge 9 secured to staves 1 and to the part 7 of eachhead 5. The outer part 6 of the heads is provided with a pair of handles10 by means of which it may be swung around its pivot 8 into engagementwith cleats 11 on the stave members and 2 when it serves to expand thecontainer from its rectangular folded condition to cylindrical form.

In preparing the device for shipment in lots the two parts of each headare swung so that their longitudinal axes become parallel and the headsare then swung into the container around the hinges 9. This permits thedevice to assume the rectangular form shown in Fig. 1. To change thecontainer from the rectangular form to cylindrical into condition forreceiving goods for shipment,- one of the heads which then serves as thebottom of the container is swung to right angles to the axis of thecontainer, thus forcing the banded slats outwardly into substantiallycircular' relation. The part 6 of the head is then swung around itspivot into the cleats 11, in which position it locks due to its pressurein expanding the body portion. The remaining head may be swung out ofthe container to its side until the container is filled, when it too maybe locked to its cleats 11 by the cam action of the member 6 thereofwhen swung around its pivotal connection with the member 7.

We claim:

A container of the class described, comprising a plurality of stavesarranged in cylindrical relation, iiexible bands encircling the stavesand secured thereto, and heads for the container made in two partspivoted together and one of which is of cam form for maintaining thecontainer in cylindrical form by coacting with pressure, against thestaves.

2. A collapsible container comprising a plurality of staves connected byflexible bands, and a head member comprising a pair of pivotallyconnected parts, one of said parts being hinged to said container, theother of said part being rotatable relatively of said hinged part, theends of said other part being formed to provide cams for coacting withthe inner faces of said staves to expand the container into cylindricalform by the rotation of said one part relative to said hinged part.

3. A collapsible container comprising a pair of oppositely disposedslats, a plurality of intermediate slats secured together by flexiblebands which are hinged to said opposite slats, and a head membercomprising a pair of pivotally connected parts of substantiallyidentical form, one of said parts being of said hinged part' so as to'beshiftztblento" engagement with cleats formed oneertein of said slats,the ends of said other part beingv formed to pro-vide cams for eoactingwith the inner faces'ofvsaid slats to expenlthe` Container intocylindrical erln by the rotation of said one 'part relative to saidhinged Y part. Y 10 Signednt Le Salle, Ill., this Jennery, 1921.

PETER SCI-IEPF. JOHN FEAGK. f i' 7 th Yday of

